Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 36,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 13 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

A smile. Whenever I pick up Lee Tonouchi’s Oriental Faddah and Son, I can’t help but smile. The book’s cover is nicely designed and at 152 pages, it should be a fast read (compared to the 925 pages in Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84 which I’m also reading) but in reality, it’s not because I often find myself rereading passages like “Why I Hate Teachers Who Nevah Seen Star Wars,” the content of which is both funny and rather sad.

From the Bess Press website:

Oriental Faddah and Son delivers “Da Pidgin Guerrilla’s” most entertaining yet poignant work to date through a combination of lamenting and humorous poems. As you read, you will journey with author Lee A. Tonouchi through childhood and adolescence into adulthood. You will laugh out loud, sometimes cry, and maybe even discover things about yourself along the way. Award winning author Tonouchi delivers a captivating, semi-autobiographical tale through his mastery of the Pidgin language. Tonouchi intricately weaves life’s most basic human elements—love and loss, birth and death—with uncovering the identity of one’s true self. In the “Guerrilla’s” case, it’s the essence of being an Okinawan in Hawaiʻi.

Now is the perfect time to pick up your copy as the Bess Press website has a holiday sale for 40% off (till 12/30/2011) so grab it now!

The Awamori Fest event is held annually to raise funds for our Okinawan Dance School, Tamagusuku Ryu Senjukai Frances Nakachi Ryubu Dojo. The proceeds from the event will help fund for our future recitals, purchasing costumes and most of all, to provide scholarships for students who are interested in furthering their skills by taking the certification test in Okinawa.

The Awamori Fest will take place on Thursday, 1 December 2011, at the Rumours nightclub in the Ala Moana Hotel, from 6pm to 8pm. The event will feature Okinawan music and dance, a silent auction, activities, and, of course, awamori! Check out the Awamori Fest flyer (Word file) which has more information on purchasing tickets for the event.

We are very happy to announce the summer 2011 issue of MANOA: Living Spirit: Literature & Resurgence in Okinawa. A companion volume to Voices from Okinawa (published in 2009), Living Spirit is a collection of compelling prose and poetry representative of the Okinawan renaissance that began in the 1960s. Katsunori Yamazato, who worked with us on Voices, again serves as guest editor. The authors include Kathy Foley, Kawamitsu Shinichi, Makimina … Read More

via Voices of the Okinawan Spirit

Sanshin Tuner, my first application, has finally been submitted to the App Store. I hope a lot of people find this useful and I am looking forward to feedback. … Read More

via Sanshin Tuner

It’s been 5+ years here at Karakui.com and over a decade of Okinawan pop culture posts spread out throughout the Web. So, what now? Well, from today, you can find us at the brand-spanking new Karakui.net. Not to worry about this site (what we’re referring to as the dotcom) as it’ll still be here with all of the old posts.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter @karakui which is a great place to keep updated on our latest posts and an awesome way to get in contact with us. Thank you for all of your support these many years and we hope that you’ll continue to follow and support us over at Karakui.net.

Wesley Ueunten is organizing a free event on Saturday, 06.18 from 2 pm in the Japantown Peace Plaza with musicians, dancers, storytellers. Details are in the attached document (Press Release_Nuchi du Takara.doc).

I’m coming out for a special performance of a storytelling program I researched and produced with Alton Chung, who is one of the best storytellers in the nation. It’s called Life is the Treasure: Okinawan Memories of WWII. I think you’d be interested in hearing the story Pigs from the Sea – about how Hawaii Okinawans raised almost $50k in 1949 (that would be around half a million today) to send 550 pigs from Nebraska to Okinawa so they could rebuild their pig industry in a life-saving gift of aloha. It is an inspiring story about “Yuimaaru,” communities supporting one another, especially in times of need.

Alton is extraordinary – really bringing these powerful stories to life and becoming the characters. He is going to perform on 06.18 from 7 pm to 9 pm at the Buddhist Church of San Francisco at 1881 Pine St. in SF (at Octavia).

Event Info:

Life is the Treasure: Okinawan Memories of WWII is a collection of riveting historical stories of astounding integrity, courage and selflessness. Brought to vivid life by award-winning storyteller Alton Chung, these stories share the experiences of Nisei, Okinawans, and Hawaii Okinawans during WWII. These powerful stories bring to life incredible heroes to inspire and guide a new generation.

(To purchase tickets please call the National Japanese American Historical Society (415) 921-5007 or email njahs@njahs.org. Ticket Prices are: General Admission: $12.00
NJAHS and BCSF member rate: $10.00. Senior and Youth Tickets: $5.00 You also get your tickets online at Brown Paper Tickets Online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/178719)

Like bon dancing? Follow @BonDanceHawaii and like our FB page at http://on.fb.me/kitYiJ—
Champuru (@champuru) June 11, 2011

There’s also an informative video about Obon and eisa up on BonDance.com so be sure to check it out. Here’s the link: What is Obon?